To say David was angry when I told him about my encounter with Jesse, was a massive understatement. He was furious.

"I can't believe that sleeze ball is working for someone else. Who would hire the likes of him? It's probably TMZ," David bellowed loudly. I gently placed my hand on his forearm, stopping his angry pacing.

"One, I know you're upset but if you keep yelling you're going to wake my grandparents and they need their sleep." He gave me an apologetic look. "And two... maybe I should just do the interview with him. He's probably not going to stop until I do. Then he can go away and stop bothering us," I said quietly. David stared at me as if I had grown another head.

"Are you crazy?" he seethed. "No! Absolutely not. He is not getting anywhere near you. Did you forget what he did to your arm?" I rolled my eyes.

"No David. I did not forget. But maybe if I had just answered his questions..." I trailed off. David grabbed me by my shoulders and looked me in my eyes.

"Don't do that. Don't blame yourself for what he did." I nodded, breaking eye contact with him, my face flushing at his touch and close proximity.

"So what do I do?" I asked. David rubbed his head in thought.

"Tomorrow, Chris is going with you to work... and so is Ray." I scoffed.

"You can't be serious. You're assigning me another babysitter?" I asked incredulously. David threw his hands up in surrender.

"You did get chased all over New York by an aggressive paparazzi. Besides, it's only for a little while, until this mess gets sorted out." I let out a huff and crossed my arms defensively, my lower lip poking out in a pout.

"Fine." David smiled and draped an arm around my shoulder.

"Aw cheer up buttercup. It's for your own safety," he said knocking his side against mine. I blushed a little and gave him a sideways glance.

"Buttercup? Ew! Just stick with Sunshine," I said smirking slightly. David gave me a lopsided grin that just about stopped my heart.

"Fine with me."

The next morning, I grudgingly hopped into the back of my escort SUV.

"Hello Christopher, Raymond," I said in an annoyed voice. Chris smirked as he looked at me in the rearview mirror.

"Mornin Harmony," Chris replied.

"Good morning Ms. Williams," Ray responded in a formal voice. I rolled my eyes. Great, I had a human robot babysitting me.

"Do me a favor and try to be inconspicuous at the diner," I snapped as we backed out of the driveway. My already sour mood was turning into a full blown tantrum. Chris chuckled softly.

"Ma'am, that's part of the job description," Ray replied. I scoffed as I looked at his attire.

"You're supposed to be discreet in a men in black suit?" I said sarcastically. Ray looked down at his attire, over at Chris' casual attire, then looked back at his outfit.

"I beg your pardon ma'am but I'm accustomed to being a part of Mr. Branson's detail and this is the usual attire," he replied, his ears turning slightly red. I suddenly felt awful. I was taking out all my annoyance with the situation out on this poor man who was just trying to do his job. I reached up and tapped him gently on the shoulder. He turned to face me, but his eyes looked anywhere but in mine.

"I'm sorry Ray. I don't mean to take my frustration out on you. Please forgive my cattiness," I said ashamed. He turned back around in his seat.

"Ma'am, with all respect I've worked this job for many years and have encountered my fair share of nasty women. Compared to them, you are just a kitten," he replied giving me a small smile and wink. I giggled quietly; I knew exactly who he was talking about.

"Alright, looks like you have section D and the upper half of E. You got it?" Nicki asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm a pro," I said grabbing my pad and pen. Nicki giggled.

"That's the spirit kid," she replied giving me a thumbs up. I bounced lightly over to a table that had just been seated. The group consisted of three guys and two girls all a year or two younger than me.

"Good afternoon folks. My name is Harmony and I'll be your waitress today. Can I start you all off with some drinks?" I asked politely.

"May I have a water with a slice of lemon?" One of the girls requested. I nodded at her and

looked at the next girl. She ordered the same and I turned to the boys.

"We're all gunna have the same thing," one of the boys said smirking. I smiled.

"And what's that?" I asked. One of the other boys with unnaturally blonde hair chimed in.

"A tall glass of you," blondie said, winking. I rolled my eyes.

"Pigs," the girls murmured in disgust.

"So that'll be two waters with lemon and three sippy cups with apple juice. I'll get right on that," I said turning away. As I walked away I heard the two girls laughing.

"Fiesty. I like her," one of them said. I giggled to myself. Moments later I returned with five waters and a small plate of lemons.

"Are you guys ready?" I asked removing my pad and pen from my apron pocket. Blondie started to say something but I cut him off. "To order off the menu!" I exclaimed giving him a sly smile. The boy laughed.

"I'm sorry. They're all actually idiots," one of the girls said. I grinned.

"Don't worry about it girl. What can I get you?"

"I'll have the..." she was cut off by a large clash. I looked towards the source of the noise and my eyes widened. Near the front door was a large group of people with cameras and microphones. And in front of them was Andrea laughing at a waiter who had been bumped by a cameraman and dropped his order. She looked up and her icy sneer met mine. She pointed a long manicured finger in my direction.

"There she is," she exclaimed. Uh oh! In a moment things became hectic. The mob of paparazzi began barreling towards me. Ray and Chris were by my side in a second, both talking frantically into their earpieces.

"Harmony, this way," Jenny said grabbing my arm. We rushed into the kitchen and Ray and Chris held the door shut. My co-workers froze in their tracks, confused by the scene unfolding. I ignored their judgmental stares as I turned to Ray.

"What the heck is going on? How did she find me? What are we going to do?" Ray held up a hand to silence me as he tried to listen to orders through his ear piece.

"M'am, we'll get you out of here in a moment. Mr. Branson is on his way now," he replied. Chris gave me an apologetic look, whilst still holding the door closed. "10-4. We'll be right there," Ray said. He looked over to Jenny. "Is there any way to get out of here?" She nodded

frantically.

"Follow me." Jenny led us through the kitchen back door, Chris and Ray on our heels along with most of the mob pushing through the main culinary doors. She led us down a long corridor before busting through a door into an alley where David was waiting. Ray and Chris leaned against the door, barricading it shut.

"How did she find me? How did she know where I worked?" I exclaimed angrily to David. David ignored me, instead turning his attention to Chris and Ray who were struggling to keep the door shut.

"I'll take her with me. Order the rest of the detail to fall into formation once we cross Broadway," David barked. Ray nodded. David grabbed my hand, pulling me quickly towards his car.

"Thanks Jen. I owe you one," I called out as we rushed away. She gave me a small wave before heading in the opposite direction.

Once we were in the car speeding away from the scene I turned to David.

"What the hell is wrong with your ex? How did she know where I worked? I didn't tell anyone who would tell her," I said in a frustrated voice. David pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

"I don't know. She's probably following you," he said quietly.

"She's stalking me?" I shrieked. This psycho! David shrugged.

"I wouldn't put it past her." I scoffed.

"What is wrong with her? I just got a great job and because of her I'll have to quit. Now I might not even be able to go out in public. Why is she so mean and bitter? What did I ever do to her?" I said placing my head on top of my fists. David didn't reply for a while.

"It's not what you did." I looked at him quizzically but he remained silent until we arrived at his house. A SUV with four men in suits pulled up behind us followed by another one that carried Chris, Ray and another man in a suit. All of them gathered in a group near David and I, all their faces stoic like statues. David turned towards Chris and Ray.

"How did she follow you without you knowing?" he asked Chris curtly. Chris looked mortified for a millisecond before composing himself.

"I have no idea honestly. I checked regularly and I saw no sign of anyone following us," he replied. Ray nodded in agreement.

"We both checked sir. She must have had them follow on foot or planted a bug," he said. David ran his hand across his head in frustration.

"What do you suppose we do? She can't just stay in the house all day," David exclaimed. It was quiet as the group contemplated different ideas. My eyes brightened as I came up with one myself. I tapped David on the shoulder gently. He turned and looked at me, a weak smile on his face.

"I have an idea," I said hesitantly. David looked at me with reluctance.

"Am I gunna like this idea?" he asked uneasily. I shook my head.

"Probably not but you should hear me out," I said. David sighed.

"Okay but after we've gotten inside. Ray, take your men and do a thorough sweep of the property and cars. Make sure no one followed us. And debug all the cameras and microphones. I have a feeling there are a few planted." Ray nodded.

"Yessir." David put a hand on the small of my back and motioned toward the front door.

Once inside David, Chris, and I all went to the living room.

"Alright. What is this brilliant idea you've come up with?" David asked cautiously.

"Well, a lot of rumors about you have been circulating lately. Doesn't that worry you at all? I asked. David shrugged.

"No, not really. I'm pretty used to it by now," he replied causally.

"But some of these sources are saying horrible things about you...and me," I said quietly looking anywhere but at his face. My mind went back to a talk show I had come across yesterday.

After weeks of hiding, our mystery girl has been spotted. I'm talking about Harmony Williams. Up to her usual antics, a mob has caught our newest princess pulling yet another prank. This time hotel heiress Andrea Banks was the unfortunate victim. Do we smell some bad blood between these two not-so sweethearts? We'll have to keep an eye on that. But my real question is who is this girl? It's like she appeared out of thin air. And the big question is how does she know David Branson It's not like she could go grocery shopping and run into him. He's a millionaire. He probably has people doing that for him. Anyway back to this girl. It seems as if she is nothing

but trouble. If you remember a few weeks back, there was the scene at the mall with Mr. Branson in the women's clothing and then she was formally introduced to the world at Andy Schwartz's annual summer bash. Then there was the Statue of Liberty incident and now this. It seems as if our little princess may not be very mature. How old is this girl anyway? Like 15? Oh she's 17, almost 18. I couldn't tell. And David is like 20, 21? She does not appear to be mature enough for him.. Seems to me like Harmony may be a little gold digger. We'll have to stay updated.

"Harmony!" David yelled. I jumped in surprise refocusing on him. I looked around and noticed that we were alone on the cloud couch.

"Um what?" I said embarrassed. David stared at me with concern etched into his eyes.

"What's wrong? You always space out when something is wrong," David said gently. I looked away, not saying anything. "You shouldn't let these rumors bother you. We both know they aren't true," he said placing a hand over top of mine. My breathing hitched at the touch.

"I know I shouldn't but they portray me as a completely different person that I really am," I said sighing. David stared at me.

"This really bothers you doesn't is?" he asked, unconsciously stroking my knuckles with his thumbs. My body shuddered at his action. If he only knew the effect he had on me. I nodded, pulling my hands into my lap. I couldn't think straight with him touching me.

"Okay then. If it bothers you that much then we'll do something about it," he replied simply. I smiled shyly.

"Really?" he grinned in return.

"Really really."

"I was hoping you would say that. Here's where my idea comes into play," I explained. David's grin remained but I could see it tighten in apprehension. "Just try and hear me out. So I was thinking about maybe putting the rumors to rest myself." The smile disappeared from David's face.

"How?" he asked. I swung my legs up under me and continued excitedly.

"By doing an all exclusive interview," I stated proudly. David looked at me coolly.

"I thought I already said no to that last night." I stopped him.

"You said no to talking with Jesse. You never said I couldn't talk to anyone else," I

exclaimed. David stood up in front of me and looked down at me.

"I thought that was implied," he replied icily. I stood up and crossed my arms in frustration.

"Well it wasn't," I snapped back. David sighed, rubbing his hand over his head. He sat down and waited until I joined him.

"Look Sunshine. It's not that easy. Paparazzi are conniving and manipulative. They turn your own words against you and I don't want that happening to you. You're too good for that," he said gently. I touched his arm lightly, ignoring the electricity that was sent through my body.

"New York, I understand you are skeptical but I think this would be a good way to stall them for a while. If it makes you feel better, you can set it up yourself. Where we do the interview, who will do it... all the works," I replied. David looked at me uncertainly. A small bud of hope awakened in me. After what felt like a century of silence David spoke.

"Fine, but I arrange everything and I will be present the whole time," he said. I squealed in delight. He gave me a small smile. "How could I say no to that smile? That cute, carefree face...," he said quietly. I cleared my throat and looked away in embarrassment, my cheeks becoming crimson red.

"So, um, tell me about Andrea," I stammered. David's eyebrows furrowed.

"Andrea? What about her?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Everything. Particularly why she is so mean," I replied, genuinely interested. He waved me off.

"Eh. You don't want to hear about her," he said. I scooted closer to him.

"Yeah I do. Tell me about it. Please," I pleaded.

"Nah. I don't wanna talk about it." I gave him my best puppy dog face.

"Please. How can you say no to this cute, carefree face?" I said. He chuckled a little and sighed.

"Sure, but I'll probably be a little biased," he explained. I shrugged a little.

"That's fine." David slouched back against the couch and began his story.

"Alright, so here's the plan. You go in first. Go make a giant scene and I'll grab the shoes," I said in a commanding voice. Well, as commanding as a 14 year old could sound. Carter nodded

hesitantly.

"How long will you need?" he asked, his prepubescent voice cracking a little.

"Like 5 minutes," I replied. Carter shook his head a little. "What?" I asked in an irritated voice.

"D, I don't know about this. What if they have cameras or security guards? I can't go to jail. I'm only 13. My moms would kill me," Carter exclaimed. I rolled my eyes.

"Stop being such a baby. It's not like we haven't done it before." Carter looked as if he were going to cry.

"But we've only stolen stuff from our side of town. Never from this far down north where all the rich people shop." I hit him hard in the chest one good time. He cringed in pain.

"Man suck it up. Why do you think we're here? This is where all the real money comes from. We'll be rich when we sell those shoes," I explained. Carter crossed his arms gently, rubbing his chest and scowled at me.

"I'm already rich punk," he snapped icily. I glared back at him.

"You're grandpa is rich dummy, not you. You won't see a dime of that until he's dead and judging by how old he is now, he may never die. Now either you go ask him for the money to buy the shoes up front or you help me now," I responded. Carter's lip poked out in frustration.

"Fine, but if we get caught, I'm blaming your ass. And don't talk about my pops," he said angrily. I smiled.

"Good. Let's go."

We crept around the corner towards our target shop. I stopped but motioned for Carter to keep going. He took a deep, dramatic breath before continuing into the store. I crept silently towards the entrance and peered inside. I watched as Carter went as far from the entrance as possible. I could see the employees glance curiously in his direction and whisper to each other. He looked back at me once more and I gave him a thumbs up.

Suddenly Carter let out an ear piercing shriek and dropped to the floor, clutching his stomach. I watched as everyone rushed to his side in concern, trying to figure out what was wrong. Once I was sure the coast was clear, I slipped into the boutique unnoticed. I crept towards the shelf holding the tickets to my way out of the ghetto. I grabbed them and started back towards the door. I was almost there when a shimmer appeared in the corner of my eye. I turned my head and gasped. There sitting untouched were a pair of sparkling gold sandals. I looked over my shoulder and saw the scene still occurring. Another pair wouldn't hurt. I slithered closer. My

mouth dropped open. These were probably more expensive than the ones I currently had in my hand. Suddenly my head was filled with numerous images of the life I could have with the money from these shoes. I would have a nice place to stay and new clothes. I had to take these too.

I reached out and snatched them. I turned hastily without looking and bumped right into something. The shoes fell out of my possession and onto the floor along with the thing, or rather person I had just bumped into.

"Thief!" I heard someone shout. All too quickly I realized my situation. My five minute "distraction" was long gone and I was currently standing with one sandal near the entrance, alone in my mission. I was just about to bolt when a voice stopped me.

"No, he's not a thief. He was bringing me shoes to try on." I looked down at the ground, frozen by those words. The girl still laid sprawled out on the floor from when I had crashed into her. She had pink braces stuck to her teeth and her shoulder length blonde hair was tied in two pigtails and tucked behind a jeweled head band. She wore giant rimmed glasses that she pushed up onto her nose before straightening her clothing. Her outfit consisted of a school uniform; a blue cashmere sweater, a white button up shirt underneath, a blue and green plaid skirt with a matching tie, navy blue knee high socks and black Louboutin dress shoes. The employee that had shouted at me picked the girl up off the ground and placed her on her feet.

"But Ms. Banks..." she stopped him with a raised hand.

"Charlie, he's with me. He's just a bit clumsy. Now run along and bring me these sandals in a 7. Hurry now. I have piano in an hour," she demanded in high squeaky voice.

"As you wish madam," Charlie replied as he scurried away. The moment he was gone, the girl turned to me.

"Hi. I'm Andrea Banks, the hotel heiress. And you are?" she asked holding out her dainty hand. I looked at it without taking it.

"I'm David Branson, the 14 year old," I mumbled as a response.

"Nice to meet you David," she said giggling a little and lowering her hand. I nodded.

"Likewise."

"Here you are Ms. Banks. Size 7," Charlie said making a reappearance. "I also took the liberty of getting you a pair in silver."

"Thank you Charlie. I'll make sure to tell Daddy about your fabulous customer service," Andrea replied, flashing the employee a bright smile.

"Thank you miss. Anything for you. I suppose this will go on the card," he inquired. She thought for a second.

"How much is the total with tax included?" She asked reaching into her little handbag and pulling out a gold credit card.

"Well let's see," Charlie said scanning the items at the cash register and typing in some numbers. "Looks like after tax it will be $11,543.63." My mouth dropped open. That was more money than my 14 year old brain could comprehend.

"Yes. Go ahead and charge that to my card. And that will be all Charlie," Andrea exclaimed nonchalantly. I stared at her, my mouth still hitting the floor. How could she be so calm when she had that much money? Charlie nodded, handed her the card back and disappeared. Andrea walked out of the store and I followed her hurriedly.

"How do you have that much money?" I asked in disbelief as her limo pulled up. She shrugged as her driver opened her door.

"I'm a hotel heiress. I'm rich," she said simply. I nodded, still in awe. She was just about to step in when I stopped her again.

"Hey wait," I called out. She stopped and turned to face me. "Why did you do that? You know, save me from getting in trouble," I asked nervously. She shrugged.

"I don't know. I suppose it's because there's something about you that I like." I nodded again.

"Well thanks." She looked at me for a moment longer before reaching into her purse and pulling out a piece of paper and pen. She wrote something on it and then handed it to me along with the bag that held the gold sandals.

"In case you would like to be friends," she said. I smiled at the number in glee and waved as she got into her car and drove away.

My mouth dropped open. Andrea had been nice before?

"But I don't understand. She seemed like... a decent human being," I exclaimed. David smiled a little.

"She was." My brows furrowed.

"So what happened?" I asked hungrily, wanting more information. He sighed.

"Well, in simple terms, life did," he replied solemnly.

She ran into the girl's room and locked herself in one of the stalls. She fell to the ground, placed her head into her knees and sobbed. She heard the door to the bathroom crash open as her bullies burst in.

"Fatty? You in here? We were having so much fun," Christine called out.

"Leave me alone!" She yelled through sobs.

"There you are Piggy. Open the door so we can see your pretty shoes," Carey said sarcastically. She curled into a tighter ball, looking at her new Chanel flats. They were ruined. She was dressed in cafeteria food. Milk was drying and matting her hair in awkward clumps. Spaghetti was slithering down her uniform and Caesar dressing stained her new shoes. This was the result of yet another "Attack Andrea" plot.

"Stop harassing me. Leave me alone," She yelled, as the group of mean girls continued their physical and verbal assault on her.

"Harassing you? We're simply having fun," Georgie yelled back ramming into the stall door. Andrea stood up, barricading it.

"Stop it. Stop," she pleaded angrily. They kept at it; calling her vulgar words and throwing toilet paper over the stalls. The attack continued for another five minutes until the bell rang. Finally, she was alone. She peeked through the crack of the stall and found herself once again alone. She opened the stall door and walked to the mirror, peering at the hideous creature staring back at her. She turned to the side and stared at herself through tear brimmed eyes. They were right. She was fat. She was ugly. No wonder they teased her. She sobbed loudly, turning away from her reflection in disgust. She leaned against the edge of the sink, weeping into her hands. After a while, she looked up; something had caught her eye. It was a girl. She was even mousier than Andrea. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she had three books tucked under her arm. But what made Andrea's eyes grow wide was how thin she was. She was the same height as her but she looked as if she weighed 30lbs less.

"They used to call me fat and ugly too. But I lost the weight and now they don't bother me anymore," she said quietly. Andrea looked in horror at her emaciated form. As she stared at her, a hint of recognition crossed over her.

"Amy? Amy Stabler, is that you?" Andrea asked, wiping her tears. She nodded proudly.

"Yep. You didn't even recognize me did you?" she replied smiling. Andrea shook my head. There was no way this little ghost of a person was Amy Stable. Amy Stabler was a girl who had round cheeks and a beautiful bikini body; not this skeleton standing in front of the mirror. Andrea finally found her voice.

"What happened to you?" Andrea asked, failing to hide the disgust in her voice. Amy took no notice to the rude tone.

"I was getting teased for being fat and I lost all the weight. Now I'm perfect," she said admiring herself in the mirror. Andrea shook her head.

"You look sick Amy," she replied stepping towards her. Amy's eyes looked at her in alarm.

"I'm not sick. I'm fine. Unlike you, I don't get bullied for being fat," she snapped back. Andrea retracted her hand quickly. That hurt. She turned and looked into the mirror once more, grimacing at her reflection. Amy was right. She got teased because she was fat. Her cheeks were pudgy and her stomach bulged out beneath her shirt. She looked over at Amy's reflection and gasped. She was perfect; petite and beautiful. Andrea wanted to be just like her.

"How'd you lose the weight? Did you go to the gym more? Eat fewer calories?" Amy shook her head and smiled. "Well how'd you do it then? Andrea asked intrigued.

"I ate as much as I wanted," she replied. Andrea's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She continued.

"And then right after, I make myself puke it all up," Amy exclaimed triumphantly. Andrea stared at her in shock. She really was sick. She was Bulimic.

"But that's not healthy," Andrea objected.

"Yeah, if you do it all the time forever. I only did it until I lost all the weight. Now I only do it if I start to gain it back. Plus it was a really fast, effective method," she said. Andrea shook her head.

"I don't know Amy," She said hesitantly. Amy grabbed her shoulders and turned her back towards the mirror.

"Andrea, don't you want them to stop calling you fat and ugly? Don't you want them to finally leave you alone?" Andrea looked at her stomach, her cheeks, her arms, her thighs; all in disgust.

"Yes," she replied meekly. Amy smiled.

"Then just do it. It'll be fast and painless and you can eat anything you want." She said

pushing Andrea towards the stall. Andrea walked in and looked back at her fearfully. Amy motioned her on towards the commode.

"It works better if you use two fingers to hit the back of your throat," she said. Andrea nodded looking at the throne. 'I'll only do it a couple of times. Only until I'm skinny and beautiful' She thought to herself. She jabbed two fingers into the back of her throat. Her head jerked forward as she emptied the contents of her lunch into the toilet. She wiped her mouth with the back of her arm and flushed, standing straight up again.

"See that wasn't too bad," Amy stated, handing her a stick of gum. Andrea walked out of the stall and back to the mirror, smiling at herself. She already looked smaller. 'Only until I'm beautiful', she thought to herself. 'Only until I'm beautiful.'

A YEAR LATER:

"Andrea, you must eat darling. You're killing yourself," her mother pleaded, tears rolling down her cheeks. Andrea rolled her eyes.

"I have been eating," she objected. Her father came and sat next to her hospital bed.

"Honey, why do you think you are in here?" he asked. "Throwing it all up afterwards doesn't constitute as eating." Andrea shrugged nonchalantly. She knew that already but she wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

"Charlotte, reason with her," her father demanded as he stood up and stormed out of the room.

"Oli! Oliver wait," she exclaimed chasing after him. Finally, Andrea was alone to her thoughts. She looked at the tubes stuck in her arms; her extremely emaciated arms. Her eyes welled up. What had she done to herself? She was destroying herself and for what? She looked up when she heard a soft knock on the door. David stood in the doorway with a sly smile on his face. She gave him the best smile she could muster through tears.

"Hey," she croaked softly.

"Hey," he replied coming to inhabit her father's recently vacated seat. "How you doing?" he asked playfully, a hint of concern hidden in his eyes. Andrea shrugged, trying to hide her emotions, but failed as her heart began to pound and her eyes brimmed with water. She finally

settled with a nod; not being able to verbalize her feelings. She looked away from his face, ashamed at her weakness.

"Andrea, you're okay. Everything's going to be okay," David cooed, grabbing her hand gently.

"No I'm not. Look at me. I'm in a hospital. Because I almost killed myself," she said sobbing hysterically now. She was so angry with herself. "I almost killed myself." David grabbed her chin and turned her face towards his.

"Stop. You're going to get better. I promise. You'll get better," he exclaimed smiling at her. "You just need a little bit of help to do it. That's all." She nodded, glaring into the distance.

"I hate them. I hate them all. For making me do this to myself. For making Amy..." She faltered at the end of her sentence, choking on tears. She couldn't speak of her deceased friend; it hurt too much. And it was all because of them.

"Andrea, you have to forgive them for what they did to you. It's not good to hold grudges against people. It'll only make your heart hard and cold. It's not right," David exclaimed. She nodded.

"You're right. I have to forgive them so I can get better," she said. David gave her a heartwarming smile, patting her head as he gave her a tight hug.

"Good girl. And I'll be right here the whole time," he said. She hugged him back, her head over his left shoulder and sighed. She'd had a crush on David since the day she had met him. He had seen her at her absolute worse and still stuck with her. She never wanted him to leave. But as she thought to herself, replays of the terror those girls had unleashed on her flooded back into her mind. She would never forgive them. They would pay for what they did. They would all pay. And no one, not even David would stop her. All of them would feel her wrath.

I stared at David in misbelief.

"Eventually she did get better. My senior year, her junior year, we started dating. I mean she was perfect. To me, she had always been. Even since the day I met her. I had thought that she was the nerdiest, quirkiest, most beautiful girl I had ever met. She was my first love," David said absentmindedly. I seethed a little, jealous with the affection he was showing his longtime friend. He continued.

"Everything was good for a while. Andrea was healthy and more beautiful than ever. She

got contacts, and her braces came off. She even started wearing make-up. And I was dating this angel, the girl of my dreams. And on top of all that, I had just inherited a million dollar company and became rich. But all good things must come to an end. My new fame and my public relationship with Andrea were attracting some unwelcome people. Paparazzi's were stalking her and she was lashing out at them. Some of her high school bullies returned. Some trying to play nice and use her to get famous. Some bigger ones like Christine still tried to bully her but on a bigger scale. They spread rumors about her trying to ruin her public face. Andrea had made so much progress and now she was being terrorized on a whole different scale. But this time, it was different. Andrea was on a higher social scale than every one of her bullies. She was New York's princess. And what made it worse; she still carried a nasty, festering grudge.

"She meticulously went after every one of those girls that had taunted her. She exploited their personal relationships, she spread rumors about them; she destroyed their lives. I tried to get her to stop. I told her that what she was doing made her no better than them but she was relentless. She was so bitter and mean. She was no longer the girl I loved. She was this horrible monster. I couldn't take it any longer so I broke up with her. And that was almost a year ago now." I sat quiet for a while. No wonder she was terrible. People were so awful to her. Despite her antics towards me, I couldn't help but feel bad for her. The poor girl had experienced so much hate and it had consumed her.

"That's horrible," I finally said. David nodded looking at me. "I wish I would have known that," I exclaimed, suddenly feeling guilty. David's eyebrows furrowed.

"Why? She was extremely mean to you," he replied. I scratched my head nervously, looking anywhere but at him.

"Ummm, I think I was little bit harsh on her yesterday," I replied pulling out my phone and pulling up the video on YouTube. I gave it to David, giving him a small smile. He gave me a curious look before pushing play. I watched his face as he watched the incident unfold on camera. He let out a loud whoop when it got to the part of me throwing the soda on Andrea. He gave me a wide-eyed look as he watched Jenny pour the seeds and then summon the birds. When the video stopped he looked at me in surprise before bursting into a fit of cathartic laughter. Soon I was holding my stomach laughing as well.

"Oh my gosh. She's gunna kill you," he exclaimed in between laughs.

"I know. She was so angry," I replied through giggles.

"The pigeons?! Who does that? That was brilliant," he guffawed. I nodded wiping the water from my eyes.

"That was all Jenny," I exclaimed calming down. David grinned, his hysteria also dying.

"That was all hilarious. Sunshine, you are nothing but trouble. New York was not prepared for your antics," David said. I shrugged, but suddenly got serious.

"But honestly, I do feel bad. I understand why she's so hateful and vindictive now," I said quietly. David sighed.

"Sunshine, it absolutely sucks what happened to her. I'm so sad for her. And I'm definitely not making any excuses for those other girls but, Andrea had a choice. She could have learned from her experience or continued to let it control her life. She chose wrong and now it's destroying her." I nodded, thinking of my own situation. Because of it, I harbored major trust issues and it wasn't because I chose to let it define me. It just did. I shook my head at David and replied quietly.

"Sometimes it's not a choice. Trauma has a way of becoming a part of who you are. It becomes almost like your identity." David looked at me thoughtfully.

"So are you saying that she's right to be like this?" he asked. I looked away; out of the window, beyond the setting horizon and sighed deeply.

"No. But I understand."

Authors Notes:

So as I was writing this chapter, I had no idea that it was going to get as serious as it did. That being said, if you or anyone you know of is being bullied alert someone in authority immediately. Bullying is not fun or cool and no one should have to put up with it. For more information or help call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or visit stopbullying.gov. Also if you or someone you know has an eating disorder let someone know. Eating disorders may seem harmless but they are extremely dangerous. For more information or help call their helpline at 1-800-931-2237 or visit nationaleatingdisorders.org. I want you all to know that each and every one of you is loved. If not by anyone else by me. You are special to this world whether you think so or not. Don't let anyone tell you differently.